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China reports just one new domestic virus infection
BEIJING, March 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China reported just one new domestic
case of the coronavirus on Wednesday but a dozen more imported infections.
For the second consecutive day there was only one more fresh infection in
Wuhan, the central city where the virus first emerged late last year, the
National Health Commission said.
New cases in surrounding Hubei province have now been in the single digits
for the past seven days, down from a peak of several thousand per day in
early February.
Wuhan and its 11 million people were placed under strict quarantine on
January 23, with the rest of Hubei entering lockdown in the following days.
But there has been an easing of restrictions in some parts of the province
in recent days, with China saying it has “basically curbed” the spread of the
virus.
A number of smaller cities are now allowing healthy people to leave the
province to return to work or their hometowns elsewhere.
But imported cases are a rising concern for China, with 12 more reported
Wednesday, bringing the total number to 155 and fuelling fears of an influx.
An average of 20,000 people are flying into China every day, according to
the government, and 10 Chinese provinces and cities are imposing mandatory
quarantines on those arriving from abroad.
Beijing is requiring almost all international arrivals go into a 14-day
quarantine at designated hotels in the capital.
Five of the new imported cases reported Wednesday were in southern
Guangdong — China’s most populous province, which announced quarantines on
Monday. Beijing and Shanghai each had three, and there was one elsewhere.
China also reported 11 deaths Wednesday, raising its toll from the virus
to 3,237, and total infections on the mainland reached 80,894.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1310 hrs